


Not Really According to Plan

by orangeCrates



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Parent Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 03:52:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6549454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangeCrates/pseuds/orangeCrates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edward and Federico were still discussing the possibility of children when one was dropped in their laps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Really According to Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Please Practise Fire Safety Challenge: Intermission Round
> 
> pairing of your choice; unexpectedly becoming parents (foster/adoption), basically no time to prepare, on a budget, having to find everything for the child they've been quietly hoping for but obviously not expecting immediately. (Age of child up to you as well.) Basically domestic fluff and joy-based stress.

Children were a topic often discussed but never acted upon. Because while Federico was sure he wanted them (and it was them, not her or him because Federico had grown up with siblings and even when he thought they were pests, he had loved them like he had loved nothing else then or ever), Edward was less certain.

It wasn't that he didn't want them, per-se, but, he argued, who in their right mind would let him adopt a child?

"Well," Federico would say, all sly smiles while he slid his arms around Edward's waist, "at least one of us is respectable." Like his childhood wasn't full of fist fights in defense of his siblings honour (and sometimes for the hell of it), like they hadn't met during a _bar fight_ that neither of them even remembered starting. (The general consensus between them was that the other must have started it).

The possibility of children was not off the table entirely and, if anything, Federico was slowly chipping away at Edward's resolve through cheap tactics like leaving him to babysit Petruccio.

"This is a scam." He hissed even though Petruccio was out of the room and, therefore, out of earshot.

Federico looked like he was trying not to _laugh_. "What makes you think that?"

"I told your brother," Edward said while prodding Federico in the chest, "that I am no good with children. And he said--" With utmost sincerity, "that he disagreed." It was the look on Edward's face, that outraged expression that made his cheeks all pink and his lips pull back in a snarl, that made Federico burst out laughing. Edward raised his voice to be heard over him, "He said, 'you're nice.' He said, 'you'd probably make a good dad.'"

Federico continued to laugh because he could imagine it and about Edward's imitation of his brother he could only say, "I'm sure he wasn't making a face like that when he said it." When he got his laughter under control he said, "I didn't tell him to say that. I haven't mentioned _this_ ," He motioned between them, to encompass the whole argument about children, "to any of them." He tipped his head back (because he had laughed so hard he'd slid to the floor, "but he's not wrong."

"Shut up." Edward said as he always did when he had no good come back and even that was endearing so when he crouched down in front of him, Federico pulled him in and kissed him.

~ + ~

The term 'misspent youth' wasn't even apt when used to describe Edward's past. It was far more accurate to use the words 'human disaster'.

When he tried to explain how this meant he couldn't raise a child properly to Mary she had only shaken her head, "you're so _dramatic_ , Kenway." She leaned back in her chair and drank from her mug, "And stupid."

"Mary--"

"Look," She said and placed her mug down, "You wanted advice, right? Here it is: you were an idiot, I won't deny that. I'd say you're still an idiot, but just a different kind now. You were caught up in the wrong sort of thing because you were always confusing what was and wasn't important. But you figured it out, all right? And I'm hoping that if you could figure it out with that head of yours any child older than three should be able to too. And if not, well, that's where you step in, yeah? Tell them not to be the sort of shit you were. Think about what you want instead of whether or not you're going to suck as a father."

And that was the end of that conversation.

~ + ~

Edward was still warming up to the idea of fatherhood when he got a call from his estranged wife.

When he was younger, this would have been enough to drive him to drink. But he had sworn off alcohol (had been dry for two years now) so Federico came home to find him sitting at the kitchen table, staring at a bottle of vodka instead of drinking it.

The first time this happened, Federico had worried that Edward was backsliding into old habits, but it seemed that spending hours staring at the bottle was enough of a replacement. Federico didn't understand the logic of it, but as long as it worked.

He picked up the bottle by the neck and said, "you picked an expensive one."

Edward snorted, "every bottle in this house is expensive." When Federico put the bottle down it wasn't on the table, it was on the counter. He sat down at their small, round table, across from Edward. He did not prompt Edward with "what is it?", but waited for the man to string together his thoughts and put them into words. Finally, he said, "Caroline called. She's dying."

Federico did not know the woman, personally, but he knew _of_ her (and he thought, if Edward and her had met later in life, things might have worked out better for them). "My condolences."

Edward nodded. "She has a baby. A girl."

"Yours?"

Edward nodded, "mine."

"What do you plan to do?" He said without judgement or expectations. They had talked about this often enough for Federico to know that Edward did not think himself ready. (But he's been dating this man for a year now, had known him for even longer than that and you just knew some things about people after all they'd gone through.)

Edward licked his lips and he was staring at the bottle not Federico for a moment before he looked up. "Well, you wanted a kid. And she's mine."

~ + ~

Children had always been a part of Federico's plans for life. He would not have forced it on Edward if he were unwilling. There were some people who simply did not want children in their life. But that wasn't the case for Edward.

Still, he did not expect Edward to cave for another year at least and then there would have been a whole process as they decide whether to adopt or find a surgate and then would come the waiting--

They had, approximately, one month, perhaps less. They were already in the process of revising Caroline's will to appoint Edward as the guardian of their daughter.

That work, Federico was leaving to the lawyers.

"We need a nursery." He said as he made a list at his mother's kitchen table (because it was easier for Edward to be presented with a completed list than to watch Federico adding things to it). Maria Auditore had not congratulated them on their upcoming parenthood. These were not ideal circumstances, but she focused on what was practical. She could not change that this woman was dying, but she could ensure that her child would want for nothing. It was the most she could do.

"You have a spare bedroom, don't you?" Maria said as he placed a mug of coffee on the table within his reach.

"We've sort of used it as a storage room." He tapped his pen on the the paper.

Maria nodded, "call Ezio. He should make himself useful."

Another item was added to the list.

"Furniture--"

"I think we have some things in the attic you can take." When one had a house as big as this one there was little need to throw things away. "How is he?"

"Guilty and anxious. Not usually altogether." Federico frowned at his list and it hadn't seemed so terribly complicated when he was just thinking of children, of the joy of holding them and teaching them their first words.

It was his mother's fingers under his chin, tipping his face up towards her. "You will both be fine." Then she leaned over and placed quick kiss to his forehead right before she snatched the list from him. She took the offered pen and scratched things off his list and wrote new ones on with the practice that came with raising four children. "Take care of the smaller items. I will have someone bring the furniture and you will have help setting up your nursery." She said before she handed the revised list back to him.

~ + ~

Edward was standing in an aisle surrounded by babies smiling at him from packages when he turned to Adewale and said, "I can't do this. I can't raise a child. What was I thinking? Fuck."

He had thought of maybe giving into Federico's wish for children because it wasn't that he hated children, but he thought he could get away with being like the uncle who didn't really get involved and leave the important parts of child rearing to Federico. But he suddenly realized as he compared prices on diapers (and a part of him thought, the Auditore were rich. One bottle of wine from their cellars could buy them enough diapers to last them a year and have enough left to put on the baby's head if they so wished), that that was never a possibility. Even if the child wasn't related him by blood he needed to do more than just change diapers and feed the child or patch up scrapes when Federico had no time to.

"Edward." Adewale, who had been conscripted to come with him on the grounds that, having had a child of his own, he'd be able to offer better advice on what to buy (or, possibly, Mary had forseen this situation and chose the one who could restrain Edward without having to resort to taking him down to the ground), said patiently, "I believe Mary has already spoken to you about this."

"Yeah, but Mary has always been like that." He rubbed a hand over his face, "even when I was a shit she was always telling me that I was better than that." He said it like it was nonsense, but Adewale only raised his brow.

"She wasn't wrong."

"Shut up." Edward said and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm really doing this."

"Yes."

"Well, fuck me."

Adewale took one poackage of diapers off the shelf and let it fall intot he shopping cart, "no, thank you." He said and then, began pushing the cart, "come on, we still have things to get."

~ + ~

His daughter (Jenny) was so tiny when he met her, small and frail in a way different than Caroline, who was gaunt and tired even as she smiled at him.

Federico watched from the side as the (dying) woman extracted promises from Edward to keep the child safe, to love her the way she deserved to be loved.

"I will," he said, his expression grim and set like he'd die before breaking this promise.

The sight made Caroline's chest tight, "I wish I could have known you." She said, because he was the man she fell in love with but at the same time he wasn't.

~ + ~

It didn't seem like the right time to celebrate, but Jenny was turning three and it seemed important to celebrate that.

"Is mommy coming?" She asked when they told her she'd spend the day with them.

"I'm afraid not." Was Federico's answer because Edward was tied up with trying to find a good answer. "But we will take lots of pictures to show her after."

Jenny had pouted, and protested, but all three of them had urged her to go and in the end, reluctantly, she had.

~ + ~

She had come with the put upon look of a child determined to be miserable and no amount of cake or sweets could convince her out of her resolution until Ezio had shown up and utterly charmed her. He let her put flowers in his hair and managed to convince her to do the same to Federico.

"He may look big and scary." Ezio said, as if confiding a great secret, "but he is a big softy. If you know how to play your cards." Which was not a saying she understood, but she still made an attempt to put daisies into Federico's much shorter hair with a look of utmost concentration on her face and Edward smiled at the way Federico bent down to let her do it.

~ + ~

Everyone decided that it was best for Jenny to spend more time at their home as soon they were ready for her. Both to help with her eventual transition and because there was some dispute between Caroline and her parents that Edward did not pry into (he could guess, anyway). Her first night there, she asked for a lullaby.

"Mother always sang one for me." But Edward didn't know anything besides old sea shanties and bar songs and neither of those were fit for a child's ears. She looked expectant and Federico only hid his smile as he folded her laundry.

Edward flailed internally for a moment before he said, "how about a story instead?"

She considered this proposition for a moment, her brows screwed up in thought. Edward let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding when she said, "okay."

~ + ~

They brought Jenny to visit Caroline as often as was possible, which meant sometimes it was only Federico or only Edward.

Today it was Federico, sitting on an uncomfortable hospital chair as Jenny told her mother every single thing that had happened since her last visit.

"It sounds like you're having fun." She said softly and ran a hand over her child's hair.

"Uh-huh." Jenny said and there was a pause in her endless stream of words before she suddenly lurched forward and hugged her mother.

When they left, with Jenny sleeping in Federico's arms, Caroline said, "take care of them."

And he nodded, "I will."

~ + ~

Caroline passed away nearly half a year later in November.

Maria did not think Jenny should go, had offered to watch her while they attended, but Edward insisted.

"She should get to say goodbye." He said and that was it.

Jenny cried and cried at the funeral then refused to sleep in her own room that night. She lay between Edward and Federico in their large bed and slept with her face pressed to Edward's shirt.

"I think you did the right thing." Was what Federico said as he brushed a hand over Jenny's head of blonde hair (so much like her father's).

"Yeah, well." Edward shrugged as best he could while lying down because he hated seeing her cry.

"She'll be fine." He said and before Edward could ask him where his assurance came from he added, "she's your daughter, after all."

Edward snorted at that and thought it would be best if she weren't too much like him, "she's yours now too."

"Yes." Federico said and he leaned in to kiss Edward, being careful to not wake Jenny. "She is."

(And she was their child, in every sense but especially in stubbornness. They were agreed that she must have gotten it from the other one and it was an often made accusation. Once old enough, she always rolled her eyes at them and told them primly that she got it from both of them.)


End file.
